Performing Department
Community & Leadership Development
Non Technical Summary
Within agricultural education there is little research examining effective teaching practices regarding the infusion of STEM sciences within the agriculture classroom. Therefore, it is critical that researchers explore current teaching practices implemented by exemplary agriscience instructors. This will provide baseline data that will inform a conceptual model for testing It is important for agriculture educators to be able to apply the science and math concepts in the context of agricultural education. Myers and Thompson (2009) conducted a study to determine what teachers needed in order to successfully integrate STEM into their classrooms. The responses of the National Agriscience Teacher Ambassador Academy participants were categorized as the following: 1) curriculum, 2) professional development, 3) teacher preparation programs, 4) philosophical shift, and 5) collaboration. Teachers in the study desired an agriculture curriculum written to be aligned with state and national standards for science and math along with a national data base of integrated lesson plans made available to teachers. Teachers also desired continuing instruction on how to integrate science and math into the agriculture program. The teachers in the study believed the pre-service teachers should be required to take coursework at their university to strengthen their knowledge of integrated curriculum. The teachers also reported desiring a shift in philosophy regarding agricultural education. Teachers in the study believed transforming the view of agricultural education would help teachers of all disciplines understand the role agriculture can take in increasing student achievement. The teachers in the study also valued collaboration. The teachers believed team-teaching across disciplines would help to reinforce the importance of agricultural education and made the agricultural educators a valuable part of the education community (Myers & Thompson, 2009). Knowing the importance of preparing teachers for integration of science and mathematics within a curriculum, it is important to understand what the practices of integration entail. Crawford (2000) conducted a case-study of one high school biology teacher in the Pacific Northwest. This teacher had been noted for his outstanding use of inquiry-based learning when designing lesson plans the aim of the research was to gain qualitative data that described what made this teacher's lessons so effective. The results identified six characteristics of the teacher that allowed for successful use of inquiry-based instruction. Those six characteristics were: 1) situating the instruction in authentic problems, 2) grappling with data, 3) fostering collaboration between teachers and students, 4) connecting the students with their community through the lesson, 5) teacher modeling the behaviors of a good scientist, and 6) fostering student ownership in the project and the results. The profession needs to develop a model of highly effective practices utilizing STEM integration in order to prepare a future of highly trained agricultural scientists. If the profession is to develop a curriculum of STEM integration and further prepare teachers of agricultural education to integrate STEM, the current teaching practices that are most effective for integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics into secondary agricultural education need to be
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
100%
Goals / Objectives
Identify teaching methods, resources (facilities, equipment, materials, etc), and techniques currently utilized by exemplary teachers.
Project Methods
Part 1. Exemplary secondary agriscience educators within the United States will be identified and selected to participate in survey research. The teachers to be identified for the frame of the study are those who have been known to participate in STEM development in three different categories. The first category includes participation in professional development including the National Agriscience Integration Institute and the National Agriscience Teacher Ambassador Academy. The second category of secondary agricultural educators identified as exemplary by their peers through winning National FFA Agriscience Teacher of the Year Award. The third category is those teachers who train exemplary students and have been identified with students who have been past National Agriscience Fair Winners and National Agriscience Proficiency Winners. A five-year census of teachers in the established categories will be polled. Once frame error has been controlled for, the number could decrease. The survey instrument will include areas of instructor Science Teaching Efficacy; perceptions of STEM integration on teaching practices; perceptions of STEM integration on student recruitment and retention; perceptions of STEM integration on peer culture; current teaching practices; and demographics. Part 2. From the broader population (N = 12) participants will be chosen for maximum variation within the STEM fields. Researchers will then examine participant teaching methods within the selected secondary classroom settings as participant observers. This will allow the research to gain an in-depth analysis of current methods of STEM content integration as exhibited by the selected population. Data collection will include researcher observation journal; semi-structured interview protocol for teachers, students, other teachers, administrators, and academic counselors; photo documentation of educational facilities; and video-taped instructional techniques of each participant. Photo-documentation will also allow for alignment with objective 3 and identification of facilities.